Muslim majority leaders unite to stop terror

Donald Trump proved to be a catalyst for the Muslim leaders’ agreements (photo by Gage Skidmore).

PRAYER ALERT on Muslim majority leaders. In his address to leaders of 50 leaders of Muslim-majority nations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump spoke of how nations in the Mideast once protected all ethnic groups. They lived in peace side by side. They once tolerated freedom of religion for the three Abrahamic faiths—Muslims, Christians and Jews. In that spirit, Trump said he is visiting the centers of these three faiths on this first of his foreign trips. From Riyadh he will travel to Jerusalem. He will stop in Bethlehem where Christ was born, and then fly to the Vatican in Rome. He called on the three faiths to work together for peace, including peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Most Muslim majority leaders in the Mideast no longer see Israel as their primary enemy. In secret, and at times openly, they have worked with Israel to defeat a greater enemy—the Shiite state of Iran. Trump vowed to make common cause with these Muslim majority leaders, for good reason. Iran ranks as the world’s chief state sponsor of terrorists. It gives them safe harbor, financial backing and the social standing needed for recruiting more terrorists. Iran calls for death to Israel, death to America, and death to many of the Sunni leaders sitting in the audience in front of Trump. It supports Bashar al Assad and his war against his fellow Syrians. Assad’s recent vicious chemical attacks prompted Trump to retaliate with 59 successful missile strikes against the Syrian air base that launched them. But there is much more work to do.

Trump called on the 50 Muslim majoirity leaders to join him and other nations in order to isolate Iran. Moreover, they must delegitimize, defund and defeat all terrorists until their reigns of terror ends. They must coordinate in building their militaries for security, and their economies for prosperity. As a beginning, Trump said that the US has just settled on a $350 million military agreement with Saudi Arabia. This will provide both nations with hundreds of thousands of jobs. He declared that the US would work closely with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which will become like a Muslim NATO united against regional terrorism. Also, Trump announced that all 50 Muslim majority leaders present have signed a commitment to a new Terrorist Financing Targeting Center.

He concluded that the more they free their nations of terrorism, the more their nations can rebuild great cities on the ruins of warfare and realize their great potential. The leaders responded with a long ovation. Will they also respond with the true cooperation they need to defeat their common enemies?

PRAY WITH US. Father God, from one man You made every nation, that they might inhabit the whole earth. Then You took one man, Abraham, to make a great nation. With that nation, You would bless all peoples of the earth. And You fulfilled that promise in Christ. He is the Desire of the nations. We grieve that Muslim nations have settled for less than Christ. Many of their people are sons of Abraham, but also sons of the slave woman. And like Ishmael, they persecute the sons and daughters of the promise. They seek to enslave themselves and all others to the Muslim law of shariah. Muslim extremists seek to convert, control or kill all those who refuse to worship their false god.

But we thank You for Your Son Jesus who sets us free. We believe He starts every initiative for freedom to choose how to live, who to love, and who to believe. And He reveals that the true Source of life, love and faith is You. So we pray that You empower this initiative to defeat the enemies of freedom. Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. Bring back the refugees. Help them rebuild the ruins. The time is ripe for the fullness of the Gentiles to come into Your Kingdom. And that includes the billion and a half people who call themselves Muslim.

Show that Jesus is their Redeemer, the only One worthy to be called their Lord. And when their fullness comes in, You say that Israel will be saved, not destroyed as the terrorists wish. Release the forerunners who will break out of the status quo of Jew and Gentile enmity in Israel. Let them start bringing in the fullness of Jews and Gentiles alike. And exalt Jesus as the false god Allah falls. In Jesus’ name, amen.